Pimalai Resort & Spa

First visit to Thailand and fabulous two weeks at Pimalai. Great resort, facilities, staff and food. Really did feel luxurious and spoiling. Pick up and transfer from airport seamless with fantastic boat ride past stunning limestone karsts. Entry level room was lovely, spacious and had great sea views. Tried all 3 restaurants and favourite was Seven Seas (delicious vegy options - although not many choices) and Spice and Rice. Breakfast every day great and lots of choices. (Appears to be a weekly cycle so second week a repeat of first.) Happy hour at both pool bars very good and popular. And the MOST spectacular sunsets from both bars. Grounds of hotel absolutely beautiful and well looked after. 120 rooms spread across the site but so much space it doesn’t feel busy. And spotting the monitor lizards and monkeys was brilliant. No sun lounger hogs at the pools which was nice to see, and plenty of towels, plus staff bring you iced water throughout the day and fresh fruit sticks. (And the same on the beach.) Enjoyed the spa and great massages, although disappointing jacuzzi and steam room not working but assume due to spa facilities being extended. Walk to village and local restaurants/bars a must and lovely to have the different options. Prices also cheaper in the village. Yes it’s on a steep, large site but buggies up and down the hill always very responsive and when we walked the surroundings are beautiful and views from the Heritage Bar and upper pool are fabulous. Cooking class great fun with lovely sous chef. Started with tour of kitchen gardens and ended up cooking our own lunch - which was huge and delicious! A few slight niggles and the first of which is outside anyone’s control. Snorkelling and diving - disappointing compared to other countries we have visited - but think spoilt by sealife in Maldives. Did do a sunset boat trip which was good snorkelling, lovely boat and staff, including great snorkelling guides who were very good at spotting lots of things, plus drinks and snacks on return leg, but nothing to see if snorkelling off beach. You have to get a boat which a) is limiting and b) can put the price up. Despite going to what guide books say are some of the best dive sites in the country what we saw was very average. Maybe just luck of the draw on our dives. Although on the plus side better, healthier corals than we have seen elsewhere. One dive trip also involved a 60 minute drive (with stops to pick up others) to the other end of the island and then a boat which went back almost past the hotel. Dive centre is now just a desk below main lobby so assume lack of demand/interest from many hotel guests. Second dive trip was speedboat pick up from hotel - much easier. Only on one occasion could we not get pool loungers - went to hotel loungers on beach - not exactly a hardship as beach and bay are truly stunning. Very hot on beach during mid day but there are umbrellas. Beach also very clean. Childrens’ policy at pools wasn’t obviously followed and as second week coincided with half term there were more noisy children around, although when I say more I mean around 10 - so not screaming hoards. Adult only pool would be nice although as mentioned there weren’t hundreds of children. Lower pool near beach was a little murky and slightly smelly for a couple of days although clearly then treated as you could smell The chlorine. May have been due to weather/rain in night. The jacuzzi area in the lower pool could do with a clean. Grouting a little slimy and dirty. Would we return - definitely!! Stunning hotel and location in unspoilt area of Thailand and wonderful staff working both front of house and behind the scenes to make this a luxurious, pampering and very special place. And the added bonus of being able to stroll along a beautiful beach to a great little village. (Visit Pad Thai Rock and Roll Restaurant if you do!)

Just spent 9 days at this beautiful hotel, set in the cliffs.. service is fab, rooms were great, we stayed in the 200s , lower down. The higher you go, you may get the monkeys popping in...there are steps everywhere, but buggies available 24/7.

Pimalai is just gorgeous. I would say it’s quiet luxury. Everything is clean, modern and high end but isn’t flashy or ostentatious with it. The atmosphere is lovely and chilled, all the staff are warm and welcoming and it’s a perfect place to relax and destress. The restaurants are all very good - particularly Rak Talay, and the heritage bar is perfect for sunset happy hour. We had a mountain room (very steep but buggies can be called) with our own plunge pool. We loved it (watch out for the monkeys though!). Our room also had its own kitchen which is great if you are staying longer. We found the app extremely useful for calling buggies and looking at menus etc. We had massages too, the spa is lovely. We just got back and I’m already desperate to return. Koh Lanta itself is nice and chilled.

What an amazing place to stay. From start to finish we were so well taken care of. All the staff were lovely. Our beachside pavilion suite was beautiful very spacious with an amazing view of the stunning beach. We ate at the Seven Seas twice, tried the tasting menu which was delicious. We had dinner at Rak Talay which was also wonderful. We loved Happy Hour at the same place watching the sunset. We went out on a snorkelling trip arranged via the hotel, excellent snorkelling, & the staff kept a close eye on us all, even diving down with our underwater camera & getting some great photos. I would highly recommend Pimalai to anyone.

It was our first visit to Pimalai and we had the pleasure of staying nine nights. The staff were absolutely first class, bedrooms were spotless and luxurious, guest slippers, robes and beach bag for the duration were supplied in the room with a lovely plate of fruit upon arrival. The restaurants were superb with an amazing variety of salads, snacks, plus exceptional quality European, and Thai cuisine. Both pools were amazing, the sun beds were great quality and there were plenty of towels. The staff also came round with chilled water and little fruit snacks. Fabulous touches. I had a reflexology treatment at the Spa which was great. The Transfer from Krabi Airport was extremely well organised, one hour in a luxury minivan and then 45 minutes on the speedboat (check your flight arrival times as the speedboat is only available at certain times of the day and certain times of the year) If mobility is an issue then this resort is probably not suitable as there are many steps to and from the different areas of the resort. Although ALL the staff were amazing, special thanks to :- Rak at the beach restaurant Norah & Khoi at the pool and beach bar and Noi at reception. A wonderful experience from start to finish